Mid Canterbury Cricket Association

Awesome to see our very own Mike Southby awarded the Robilliard Trophy for outstanding services to sport (cricket).

A very well deserved recognition and plenty of support from the crowd in attendance.

🏆 Sport Canterbury Robilliard Award for Outstanding Service to Sport
Winner: Mike Southby

Mike Southby has given decades of dedicated service to cricket in Mid Canterbury as an administrator, coach, manager, and scorer. A Life Member of the association, he has held senior governance roles and supported generations of players and volunteers, leaving a lasting legacy of leadership and humility. His service was recognised nationally in 2025 when he was named New Zealand Cricket Volunteer of the Year.

👏 Congratulations Mike on an extraordinary contribution to sport in Mid Canterbury.

The Mid Canterbury Cricket Assn is also very sad to learn of the passing of our Life Member Brian Sampson, a man who gave a huge amount to cricket in our district over many years on and off the field.
Brian set the standards for people to aspire to today. Some of those feats are below;

Centurion No 1
Most Matches Played - 137
Leading Run Scorer - 3823
Leading Wicket Taker - 314

The reason we are sharing the Guardian post is because some of the comments capture Brian in the best way and other people deserve to read those and remember him too.

Our deepest sympathy to Janice and all the family and our thanks for all that Brian gave to cricket and other sports in Mid Canterbury.

Sad to read this.
R.I.P to one of our greatest sportsmen 🏏 🏉

Some more exciting news for the Mid Canterbury Cricket Association as we have been announced as the Dulux / NZ Cricket Club Makeover winner.

Lots of paint coming our way for the pavilion as well as some equipment and an appearance by some NZ players. We are working on the appearance of the players to coincide with a spoecial day at the start of next seaon but a huge thanks to Dulux New Zealand for selecting us. We certainly believe you made the right choice ! 👏👍

Winners are grinners 😁

🎉 WINNERS ANNOUNCED 🎉
We’re excited to announce the two winners of our Sports Makeover Competition, delivered in partnership with New Zealand Cricket 🏏

Congratulations to our first-place winner:
🏆 Mid Canterbury Cricket Association
And to our runner-up winner:
🏆 Eden Roskill District Cricket Club

You stood out for all the right reasons and we can’t wait to bring your sports makeovers to life!

A massive thank you to everyone who entered the competition, showed their enthusiasm and great reasons why their club deserved a makeover. We read through all of your entries and were very impressed with the amount of interest we received and wanted to thank everyone for making the effort to submit their local club.

Keep an eye out for the before and after photos! 📸




Mid Canterbury Cricket Association Eden Roskill Cricket Club

Great to see our Game Development Officer Taine Cordell-Hull show his diversity in sport as he arrives in Sri Lanka with the NZ Rugby U85kg team for a test series of matches.

Of note is that Sri Lanka is one of Asia’s oldest rugby-playing nations, with a tradition dating back to 1879. The sport attracts large crowds for school and club matches, often pulling in 40,000 to 50,000 spectators for major games.

All the best Taine Cordell-Hull I'm sure you will have plenty of supporters from back home amongst the cricket community.

Today the QBE High School Girl's tournament (formerly the Gillette Venus) will be taking place in Christchurch which is the follow on from our successful girls festival in Ashburton a couple of weeks ago and we would like to wish the Mt Hutt College girls' team all the best as they take part in Pool 2 of the Plate section.

The numbers at this tournament have grown so much in the last couple of years that this year we have 18 teams playing across three sections. All the best Mount Hutt College!!

Live scoring will be available here
https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/christchurch-metro-cricket-associationcjca/summer-202526/girls-1st-xi-qbe-insurance-plate-pool-2/ec879085/R2

Methven Cricket Club Mount Hutt College

A very special day in Mid Canterbury with the announcement by NZ Cricket that Mike Southby has been awarded the Outstanding Volunteer award as below.

Mike will be formally recognised as the winner of this award with presentations to be made during the upcoming BLACKCAPS and WHITE FERNS double header fixtures against South Africa at Hagley Oval on March 25th.

The NZC Community Cricket Awards are designed to celebrate the passion, commitment, and hard work of people who go that extra mile in helping grow the game in their local communities.

The winners of these awards continue to make a significant contribution to community cricket by creating opportunities for people of all ages to participate, remain involved, and have a strong connection with the game.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all the winners and recognize the significant contribution they have made to cricket across the country.

Outstanding Volunteer
Winner: Mike Southby
Location: Mid Canterbury Cricket

Mike Southby has dedicated decades of unwavering service to Mid Canterbury Cricket, contributing in multiple capacities, whether as a coach, an administrator, or a guiding leader. His deep passion for Mid Canterbury Cricket is evident in the countless hours he’s invested behind the scenes, ensuring the game thrives, the community flourishes, and generations of players benefit from his leadership.

We know we could add so much more to this list but a huge thanks from Mid Canterbury Cricket and all the cricketing community. We hope that people can congratulate Mike, give him a pat on the back and say well done!

Allenton Cricket Club Methven Cricket Club Ashburton Guardian Lauriston Cricket Club What's On Ashburton Ashburton Online Ashburton Courier Mid Canterbury Rugby Union

👏🏏🥇💯✅

Allenton Jemmett managed to get across the line against Mt Somers in dark light as the final of Open Grade took place on Ashburton Domain last night.

The bottom four final in Methven between the home team and Allenton Azaad was rained off but as enough overs to constitute a match has been played Azaad won on Duckworth Lewis.

In the main final Mt Somers scored 166-6 off their 18 overs with Jack Hislop (76) leading the charge while Hanroux Wessels (33 no) , Sam Field (17no) and Ryan Wareing 13 all made double figures.

Jack Middleton with 3-28 was the best of the Allenton bowlers.

For the chase Lachie Jemmett with 64 led the chase but had good support from Liam Fuller (29) while Will Jemmett (10), Jordan Bird (16) and Gus Jemmett (11 no) got into double figures to help him get the job done with 3 overs to spare.

For Mt Somers Tom Kearney's left arm spin seemed hardest to get away as he took 1-22 from his 3 overs.

The game was played in good spirits and a special thanks to Timaru umpire Les Elliott who came up to adjudicate on the night.

Allenton Jemmett will be pleased to hang onto their crown but Mt Somers have come a long way in their 2nd season to make it a very contestable final so well done to them too.

Finals scorecards
https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/org/mid-canterbury-cricket-association/open-grade-wednesday-summer-202526/open-grade-wednesday-2025-26/51bb839e/FR2

Allenton Cricket Club Methven Cricket Club Ashburton Guardian What's On Ashburton Lauriston Cricket Club fans

A very special night last evening at the Mid Canterbury Cricket Fundraising Dinner at Hotel Ashburton with guest speakers Chris Harris and Garth Gallaway.

A huge thanks to them and to all the businesses, clubs and individuals who attended and supported the event which we can assure you was even better than we hoped, showing the great Mid Canterbury's people's support.

We would also like to thank all the businesses and organizations that supplied products or services for the silent auction which was also part of a great night and a special congratulations to our Board Chairman Jane Fowles who pulled it all together.

Well done Mid Canterbury and again a huge thank you for helping us continue to provide better facilities for cricket in our district.

fans Allenton Cricket Club Methven Cricket Club Ashburton Guardian Ashburton College ANZCO Foods Canterbury Cricket Argyle Welsh Finnigan What's On Ashburton Lauriston Cricket Club Ashburton Online EverSafe

Mid Canterbury Cricket Fundraising Night Auction

This coming Tuesday night (March 17th) at Fundraising Dinner we will also be holding an auction for the following memorabilia and accommodation packages.

As some people may be unable to attend the night and auction we will accept auction bids for the items via email but these must be with us by midday Tuesday please.

Please email [email protected] with your name, the auction number and name of the item (e.g. 1 Peppers Tekapo) you wish to place a bid on and indicate the maximum you wish to spend on that item if your bid is successful.

If you bid is successful on the night we will email you with the bank account details and amount you need to pay to Mid Canterbury Cricket.

We are looking forward to hearing from you - please let any friends know of items that may interest them.

AUCTION ITEMS (see photos of items as attached)

1. Peppers Tekapo - (two nights accommodation for two people including breakfast)

2. Edit Hanmer Springs - (one nights accommodation for two people)

3. Black Caps Signed Bat 2015 - (signed by full squad for 2015 World Cup No 8 of only 110)

4. Matt Henry signed bat

5. ANZ Black Caps top - (signed by NZ One Day Squad who played England at start of 2025-26 cricket season at the Bay Oval)

6. Signed Beige NZ playing top - (commemorative top produced for 20th anniversary of NZ v Australia T20 matches with NZ signatures)

7. Tahuhu Top - (Leah Tahuhu's Magicians playing top and number)

8. McConchie Top - (Cole McConchie's Kings playing top and number)

Allenton Cricket Club Methven Cricket Club Ashburton Guardian Ashburton College Ashburton District Council What's On Ashburton